2024, Josh Gordon, Will Speck (The Switch) -- Amazon
Random space-movie time during the Xmas Break, this one doing a typical riff on Pitch Black as in "crash on planet, survive ugly monsters, in the dark". And yet, despite being a "borrow most everything" kind of movie, it did have some interesting details.
OK, so Andy (Anthony Ramos, She's Gotta Have It) is a space miner on a sub-light starship, which means everyone is cryo sleeping, when the ship veers too close to an asteroid belt, catches some rock, and begins to break up. Andy is tossed into his escape pod which is installed with an AI assistant called LEONARD (its a long acronym for something) which is ... the value model. As his pod jets off, we see most others are destroyed upon launch or upon atmo entry -- they are just not very good "escape" pods, I guess. Also the value models?
After extracting himself from the wreckage, and constantly arguing with LEONARD (Zachary Quinto, Heroes), he comes across another survivor Dwayne (Kristofer Hivju, Cocaine Bear), a cockroach of a man -- this is not his first flirtation with disaster. Dwayne lets loose some details about the company only caring about the bottom line, which seems contradictory to his attempts to send a signal to The Company so they can be rescued. If The Company didn't care enough to give them fully functional escape pods, why would they send out a likely VERY expensive rescue ship? Also, if starship travel is generally in years, then why does Dwayne think it will only be about 18 months? Whatever, one of the charms of low budget space movies is all the logical fallacies and screenwriters who don't care they don't know much about space. No matter, Dwayne gets snatched by a Giant Monster as soon as Andy turns his back. Andy just assumes Dwayne dumped him and continues on his way.
Andy ends up making communications contact with Naomi (Naomi Scott, Charlie's Angels) who is trapped in her pod, but has plenty of air and supplies, enough for the both of them. Her pod was not the value model -- depending on your rank in The Company, the more likely you are to have actually serviceable gear. Maybe the rescue ship is only for them? Also, Andy's air is running out cuz value model space suits tear easily. LEONARD thinks Andy should just head to the remains of the ship, but Andy feels beholden to finding Naomi, even after he discovers that Giant Monsters are stalking him.
Much of the movie focuses on the quippy, almost flirty conversations between Naomi and Andy. She knows she needs him and he knows she is so very much more capable than he is. And considering the entire walk is at night, the movie is able to keep its budget down, so that which it does give us is pretty decent. Its a good looking space movie.
Eventually Andy does rescue Naomi and they do get to the remains to the crashed ship and they do survive being eaten by the Giant Monsters and find a safe place and enough supplies to await the company, which is completely only coming because Naomi is in the right social strata, to come pick them up.
Given, there is very little original about it, it still kept my attention with minimal annoyance beyond seeing Dwayne used as cannon fodder --- Kristofer Hivju deserves more work. Also, Anthony as Andy, and Naomi as Naomi... is there a phrase for when characters are provided the name of the actors playing them?
"is there a phrase for when characters are provided the name of the actors playing them?"
ReplyDeleteIt's called "the Tony Danza" or "Danzaing" ;)
The Dwayne of it all is, I think, the writer/directors unable to escape their comedy roots. Dwayne's involvement and what happens to him is strictly for laughs. "Dwayne never dies."